Stranded (Broken Man Book 2)

by Lila Kane

  “Whether you do or not, I’m here. And I want you.”

  My cock jerks in response. “Anything you want right now. I’m yours.”

  She reaches between us to palm my dick through my pants. “I want this in me. Right now.”

  I don’t hesitate, just start taking off her clothes and forget all about the small fight we just had.

  CHAPTER 7

  ___________________

  ERIN

  The snow stopped yesterday and we dug out Jace’s truck this morning. Which means he can take me to my car. Which means I have no reason to leave.

  But I’m hesitating. We’ve just had the most amazing week together, and I don’t want it to end.

  I get into the shower to clean up, and Jace says he’ll be in shortly. But after ten minutes of him not showing up, I wash my hair quickly and get out. Wrapped only in a towel, I walk to the kitchen to find him sitting at the table.

  I can’t tell if he’s upset or happy. In fact, I can’t seem to read his expression at all.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask, stopping next to the table.

  Jace looks up slowly and blinks like I’m just coming into focus. “I think so.”

  “What happened?”

  “I just got a call from my lawyer. He said there was a new break in the case and… someone might have come forward about the assault on that girl I found.”

  My heart breaks for him. I step forward and wrap my arms around him. He clings to me tightly. This must be bittersweet. His name might get cleared, but he already spent so much time in prison.

  “I’m sorry. I mean, this is a good thing. But you’ve also missed so much.”

  Jace shakes his head. “I don’t care about that. I learned who I really am while I was in there, and learned that I don’t want to waste any more of my life.”

  I lean down and kiss his temple. “I’m glad.”

  He looks up at me. “I know you were planning on leaving soon. I can take you to your car whenever you’re ready, but I was hoping you’d wait until I hear back from the lawyer. Just for…support or whatever.”

  “Of course. I’ll get dressed and I’ll be right back.”

  I go to my room to get dressed, pulling on my jeans and a sweatshirt Jace let me borrow. I’m not in a hurry to leave anyway. In fact, I wish I had an excuse to stay. But Jace has already let me stay long enough.

  Now I feel like I’m imposing. And I have to be back to work next week anyway. I already almost missed the entire time I’d taken off for vacation.

  But in a way, this has turned out to be better than any vacation I could have gone on by myself.

  When I return to the kitchen, Jace is crouched by the fire, building up wood for later on.

  “You doing okay?” I ask.

  He nods, but he seems distracted. I try to take his mind off of the phone call by challenging him to a game of chess. Then I tell him stories about my family to distract him even more, and before we know it, three hours have passed.

  We eat lunch together and then make love in his bed. And just when I think he’s finally forgotten about the phone call, his phone rings.

  He leans over from his side of the bed to answer it. I watch him as he listens, as his shoulders droop in relief, and as he thanks his lawyer.

  It’s good news, I know it.

  Jace gets off the phone and nods at me. “He did it. The man who attacked her came forward.”

  I toss my arms around him. “I’m so happy for you. This is great news!”

  “It is. I want to—to start over again. Try to get out into the world where no one will judge me anymore. But tonight, I just want to celebrate. I want…”

  “What?” I ask when he stops.

  He shakes his head. “Sorry. It’s nothing. I know you have to go.”

  Disappointment runs through me. I don’t want to leave. Not yet.

  “I still have a few more days before I’m supposed to be back.”

  He looks hopeful again. “Really?”

  “Yes. I’d like to stay, if that’s okay.”

  He rolls on top of me, pinning me to the mattress. “Of course that’s okay. That’s exactly what I want.”

  “Then I’ll stay.”

  “Good. I want to open a bottle of wine and have sex with you on every single surface in my house.”

  My body grows hot just thinking about it. “Sounds like we’re going to be busy.”

  He chuckles. “Good thing we have nowhere to be.”

  I smile at him. “Maybe another snowstorm will hit and we’ll be stuck here another week.”

  “Sounds like a good deal to me. That’ll give me plenty of time to…” He lifts his eyebrows suggestively. “Thank you properly for staying.”

  I grin and pull down the covers so my naked body is exposed. “Let’s start with the thanks right now.”

  EPILOGUE

  ONE YEAR LATER

  ___________________

  ERIN

  “Let’s do it,” Jace says.

  “Do what?” I ask lazily from my side of his bed.

  We stayed together after that crazy week back in the winter and it only took about three months for me to decide to move in with him. I was tired of commuting back and forth and being at Jace’s has brought me a lot of happiness.

  He turns on his side and props his head on his hand. “Move.”

  “Move? Where? Why?”

  He grins. “Closer to town. In town. Somewhere there are people.”

  “I thought you liked being out here. Away from people.”

  “I do, but things are different now. People don’t look at me like they used to. It’s nice. Besides…” He walks his fingers up my arm and then touches my cheek. “Other things are different now, too.”

  “What’s different?”

  “Us.”

  I smile at him. “We’ve been together a while now.”

  “And I want it to change.”

  I swallow, suddenly nervous. He pulls away for a minute, and reaches inside the drawer in the nightstand on his side of the bed. I thought things were going well, but maybe…now that he’s been declared an innocent man, maybe he wants to start over. Maybe he wants to move on.

  Without me.

  He turns back around and peers down at me. “You look worried.”

  “I’m…nervous. I thought things were going okay.”

  He angles his head. “They were.”

  “Were? So…you’re breaking up with me?”

  He laughs out loud, startling me. “No. Erin, no…I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  “I don’t want to break up with you. I want to marry you.”

  He holds up a ring and I gasp. “Really?”

  He laughs again. “Really. You’ve been here for me for the most important part of my life. You trusted me even when you didn’t know I was innocent. Marry me. Please. And I’ll make you the happiest woman on earth.”

  “You already do make the happiest woman,” I say, tears in my eyes. “But of course I’ll marry you.”

  He puts the ring on my finger, and then kisses me. “We don’t have to move. We can do whatever you want.”

  “No,” I correct him. “Whatever we want. We’re together on everything for now on. Where you go, I go.”

  “Same for me. I love you, Erin.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Turn the page for a sneak peek at my first full-length romance novel, Fiancée for Sale.

  Summary

  I wasn’t supposed to be dumped weeks before my wedding day. Not only have I lost my dream come true, but I’m also massively in debt because of all my wedding purchases. So what’s a girl to do?

  Easy. Sell the wedding on the internet. I put my dress, the venue, even the damned centerpieces up for sale. How was I to know the man who’d come to possibly purchase them was also looking for a bride?

  But I need the money, and maybe…maybe I need a little adventure in my life, too. Instead of playing it safe, may
be this billionaire is the key to turning my life around.

  I thought I was getting a fiancé and enough money to get me back on my feet, but I didn’t realize I might also be falling in love.

  Fiancée for Sale is a standalone, full-length novel. No cliffhanger or cheating, and a Happily Ever After is Guaranteed. Bonus content is also included.

  CHAPTER ONE

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Brianna

  “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” I say, glaring at my friend.

  Deb only smiles gently. “It’s getting your mind off of Chet, right?”

  She’s right. It is getting my mind off of Chet. Maybe not entirely mending my heart, but it’s a start. After all, Chet’s an asshole, so anything I can do to move on and to get my money back, will help.

  At least I hope so.

  “All right.” I hold my fingers over the keyboard. “What am I supposed to write?”

  Deb checks her list. “Everything on here. Everything you can sell—even the venue.”

  “The venue? Seriously?”

  She nods. “Seriously. If you can find someone who’s been waiting for this place forever, maybe you can make a deal. Maybe they’ll want to push their wedding up. It’s a long shot, I know, but they’re not going to refund your deposit on the place.”

  No, they aren’t. The wedding is supposed to be in three weeks, and we were nearing the end of plan-making. Meaning, we had already booked the venue a long time ago, hired the caterer, paid for the flowers and on and on. Oh, and the dress…

  That had been the best part. My dream dress.

  And now, I don’t even want to wear it. It reminds me too much of Chet. Chet the liar. Chet the cheater. Chet the asshole who had made me fall in love with him even though my friends had warned me he was just a player.

  How was I supposed to see that when I was drowning in love?

  Had he even given any indication of these things? I’m afraid to ask Deb. She’ll probably say yes. She’ll probably say there were signs, signs, and more signs. And then I’ll feel like a complete fool—worse than I already do.

  Deb is just too kind to say, I told you so.

  “What about the engagement ring?” I ask.

  Deb runs a hand through her hair. “What do you think?”

  “Pawn it.”

  Deb laughs. “That’s the spirit. Get Chet out of your life completely. I know it’s hard and he’s a total dick for doing this to you, but the faster you get all memory of him out of your life, the less he can hurt you.”

  She’s right again. My heart will take time to mend, but it’ll be easier when I don’t have reminders of him everywhere. And when I figure out how in the world I’m going to get back on my feet financially.

  That alone makes sadness turn into anger. Fuck Chet. He was supposed to pay for half the wedding when he got his first bonus at work. He was supposed to help pay for rent, too. To make up for all the money I’d lost the last several months trying to secure our future.

  My fingers start moving, and I list all the items written on Deb’s notebook. I set up the rest of the ad and blow out a breath before pressing SUBMIT.

  “Now what?” I ask.

  “Now, we print out flyers and put them up everywhere we can think of,” she says, gesturing to the computer. “Trust me. Someone’s bound to see them. And if that gets you even $100 back then that’s helpful, right?”

  “Right,” I grumble, though I’m sick of her being right.

  Rent is due in two weeks and I’m barely getting any hours at work. It’s my fault. I told them I needed to cut down on hours to help plan the wedding, and they compensated by hiring new employees who are now getting all the hours I used to have.

  Deb wraps an arm around my shoulders. “I promise after the flyers we’ll take a break. I’ll buy you a drink.”

  I sniffle a little, though mostly I’m just playing it up to get her sympathy. Mostly. “Two drinks.”

  She laughs and nods. “Two drinks. Big ones. And we’ll eyeball all the hotties in the bar just to make ourselves feel better.”

  “I feel better already.”

  I’m only partly lying. I do feel better. I’d let myself wallow for a few days, but now I’m over it. I need to be productive, and this is the best way to do it.

  So I get back to work and try to think of this as business and nothing more.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  W e cover all our favorite spots, and spots we know get a lot of traffic. At the last place, a little dive bar we frequent because it’s just around the corner from my apartment, I point to the back of the building. “Last one.”

  “I’ll grab a table,” Deb says.

  I spot a few guys at the bar, watching me, and sway my hips a little just because I can. I’m not attached anymore, and though I don’t particularly want to pick up a guy in a bar—let alone one a week after being dumped by my fiancé—I’m single and I’m allowed to flaunt it.

  In the hallway to the bathrooms, there’s a bulletin board covered with flyers for bands and apartments for rent. I spot an empty bottom corner to put up my sad flyer up with a thumb tack, hoping to lure perspective brides to buy my wedding experience. My dream.

  A man comes out of the bathroom and bumps into me, knocking the paper loose and watching it flutter to the ground.

  “Shit—my bad.” He bends to grab the flyer. “You okay?”

  “Uh…” I blink up at him. He doesn’t look like he belongs here. Nice three-piece suit, shoes shiner and probably more expensive than my entire wedding. I can’t believe he just came out of that bathroom. Maybe he’s lost. “I’m fine.”

  “Good.” He starts to pass over the flyer, then pauses and looks at it. “You’re selling a wedding experience?”

  Yeah, so my wording isn’t the best. I was trying to make it sound enticing.

  I pluck the flyer from his hand and tack it to the board. “Yes.”

  His lips curve in a grin. “That’s one I haven’t seen before.”

  Damn, he’s cute. And cocky. He’s totally laughing at me right now. Well, screw him. Chet’s probably laughing at me too, and I don’t need that in my life. Ever.

  “You should probably get out more,” I say, then turn on my heel and sashay back to the booth.

  The guys at the bar are openly staring now but I ignore them and slide into the booth with Deb. “Men,” I huff.

  “Yeah, I see them ogling.”

  “Not them—the asshole back by the bathrooms.”

  Deb glances in that direction, trying to peer into the hallway. Then her eyes widen. “Holy hell. You mean, Mr. Business Suit—the guy practically oozing money from his pores?”

  I wave off her assessment. “I need a drink.”

  “He’s hot.”

  “The assholes always are,” I say.

  “Ain’t that the truth?”

  Putting Chet and Mr. Money Bags out of my mind, I order a drink and take the night off from worrying.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Michael

  I can’t say I’m not intrigued. A sexy, confident woman tacks an entire wedding to a board in a dive bar and then tries to put me in my place? I want to know more.

  Too bad a bride doesn’t come with the wedding—then she’d probably have some takers. The idea hits me hard. A bride. A wedding already planned. It sounds like a quick answer to my problem.

  I grab the flyer and stuff it in my pocket before walking to the table in the corner. Derek’s already there, looking as out of place as I do in his suit and tie. I can’t help but look for the woman as I walk, and find her at booth on the opposite side of the bar. She doesn’t see me, or maybe she doesn’t care to.

  Derek gestures to the bar when I reach the table. “I ordered your drink. And really…I have no idea why you wanted to meet here. It’s…dirty.”

  I chuckle. “Exactly. No one will find us here.”

  “Who’s looking for you?”

&nb
sp; “Everyone,” I say. “Especially the press.”

  Derek grins. “That was your fuck-up. Now you have to deal with the consequences. Just tell them the truth and get on with your life.”

  The truth? Shit. No one wants the truth. They want a fairy tale. They want to think I have the perfect woman, ready for the perfect wedding, and soon to follow, the perfect babies. And Derek is right, I fucked up. I alluded to a woman—one that doesn’t exist.

  But my partners start in on me every day. They’re like my parents. When are you going to get married? Settle down? Have kids? You need someone to bring to our functions, someone to share this life with.

  They’re all certain they know exactly what I need. And once I’d given the impression that I already had a woman, someone ran with it. Now the papers and magazines are running story after story. Who’s the mystery woman? Who has Michael Parsons been hiding? And the latest—and the worst: Who’s Michael Parsons’ fiancée?

  I’m not sure how I’d gone from having a potential love interest to having a fiancée, but somehow I had.

  Our drinks arrive and I down half of mine in one gulp.

  “Easy,” Derek says. “Getting drunk isn’t going to solve the problem.”

  “Neither is telling the truth.”

  “Say you broke up. No one will ever know there wasn’t a woman.” Derek lifts his drink in salute. “Then you can go back to being a bachelor.”

  “Even if that’s what I wanted, it wouldn’t fix the problem.”

  Derek shakes his head. “There is no problem. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

  Derek is forever seeing things in black and white. He’s my lawyer—a good friend, but still—I pay him to see things in black and white. But I also pay him to find loopholes and work things to my advantage. Right now, I have an idea about him working something to my advantage, but I’m not sure we’ve had enough to drink yet.

  No…even with five more cocktails Derek is still not going to think this is a good idea.

  Derek gestures to the waitress for another drink.

  I ask her to bring the intriguing woman and her friend a round of whatever they’re having, and Derek lifts his eyebrows. “Who is it?”